Five security officers are set for prosecution accused of accepting bribes to facilitate the unauthorized entry of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, into restricted areas of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, during the dramatic events of February 12, 2026.
The five officers — drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, DSS, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Aviation Security arm of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria — have all confessed to receiving bribes to obstruct a lawful security operation and facilitate El-Rufai’s unauthorized movement through the airport’s restricted zones.
The accused officers are ASP Ayuba YAKUBU; Murtala INUWA, DSS Officer; Najeeb MURTALA, Nigeria Immigration Service; Musa ADAMU and Salihu VICTOR.
The five have been handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for prosecution, following the conclusion of the joint investigation conducted by the DSS, NIS, Nigeria Customs Service and the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
Additionally, a separate cohort of officers from the NIS and NCS — whose conduct, while improper, did not rise to the level of criminal bribery — have been referred for administrative sanctions for abusing their uniforms to facilitate unauthorized access.
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Credible News recalls that the incident that set off this chain of events occurred when El-Rufai arrived in the Abuja airport on February 12, 2026, and filmed his dramatic encounter with security operatives.
El-Rufai — who had been living abroad for several months in what many observers described as a self-imposed exile — landed at Abuja’s international airport after arriving on a flight from Cairo, Egypt. He had announced ahead of time that he would return to Nigeria by February 20, ostensibly to “clear his name” of mounting allegations of corruption, abuse of office, and other charges. His arrival was, therefore, widely anticipated — both by his supporters and by security agencies.
Waiting for him at the airport were DSS operatives, deployed with specific instructions connected to ongoing investigations. According to multiple reports, the DSS officers attempted to take El-Rufai into custody as he came through the arrivals hall. But he refused to go with them, demanding to see a formal letter of invitation or an arrest warrant.
When agents were unable to produce one to his satisfaction, a standoff ensued. Amid the confusion, operatives seized his international passport. In the chaos, a large crowd of supporters who had gathered at the airport to welcome him intervened — chanting and jostling with security agents — and El-Rufai was eventually escorted out of the airport without being formally arrested.
It was in that pandemonium — with multiple competing security agencies, a loud crowd, and a former governor resistant to arrest — that the five now-indicted officers allegedly collected bribes to look the other way and allow El-Rufai and his entourage to pass through restricted zones unchallenged, obstructing what the DSS has described as a “lawful security operation.”
Crediblenewsng.com
